Outloud - Virtual Hero Society

Sjak : We have had to wait about four years for it, but now finally the meanwhile fourth studio album of Outloud has been brought to market in the shape of this ‘Virtual Hero Society’ record. The core of this melodic rock outfit still exists of the Greek guitar player Bob Katsionis and the American singer Chandler Mogel and these two gentlemen are the ones that make the material on this new album very worthwhile to listen to. Style-wise not too much has changed within the Outloud camp, because for the majority they still play easy-listening melodic rock songs with a prominent rol for the fresh sounding riffs of Katsionis and the fantastic vocals of world-class singer Mogel.

Tunes like opener ‘Fools’ Train’, the single ‘Virtual Heroes’, the very catchy ‘We Got Tonite’ and ‘…And I Tried’ to name just a few spontaneously result in a good mood and stick in your brain after just a few listens. Despite of the fact that the majority of this album consists of traditional melodic rock, they sometimes also go beyond the usual paths, which makes this album even more interesting. Examples hereof are the lovely ballad ‘Share My Dreams’, the saxophone coloured ‘World-Go-Round’ and the fully acapella sung ‘Fallen Love’, which account for a bit more variety with the song material on offer here.

The common thread within the Outloud sound remains the great song material, the lovely guitar parts of Bob Katsionis and the excellent vocals of Chandler Mogel. Also their fourth album ‘Virtual Hero Society’ has become a very strong record and with this Outloud once more proves to be a big added value within the genre.